Refrigerating apparatus



Oct. 18, 1938. G. E. HULS E REFRIGERAT-ING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 9, 1935 YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIII III,

INVENTOR Ji/ eolye E. Hake Q f A'ITORNEY p Patented act. 18 1938 v 2 UNITED STATES PATENT orric s1;

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS George E. Hulse, New Haven, Conn, assignor of one-half to Robert 8. Blair, Stamford, Conn.

Application September 9, 1933; Serial No. 688,792

4 Claims. 01. cz-rz) This invention relates to refrigeration. wardly for the purpose of fllling it with ice, and I One of the objects thereof is to provide reit may be noted that this apparatus is particueflicient action. Another object is to provide especiallyof the s o-called flake form, this being 5 practical apparatus of the above type in which indicated within the basket at 26. 5 the refrigerating action is economically controlled. Mounted at the righthand end of the basket; as 7 Another object is to provide apparatus of the shown in Fig. lot the drawing, isa suctionfunnel sive construction and which requires a minimum which discharges upwardly through the passage 10 of care in its use. Other objects will be in part 29 into the space above the shelf l3 and at the 10 obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter. right hand of the partition v H. Although this The invention accordingly consists in the feablower is indicated as of the centrifugal type, tures of construction, combinations of elements, other types of blowersmay beemployed such as and arrangement of parts all as will be lllustraan ordinary suction fan, if desired. The driving tively described and the scope of the application shaft 130 of the blower 28 leads to an electric of which will be pointed out in the appended motor 31 positioned as shown externally ofthe claims. wallof the refrigerator. ,It mayhere be noted In the accompanying drawing, in which is that by this arrangement the substantial amount shown one of the various possible embodiments of heat generated by the motoris kept outside 29 of this invention, the refrigerating apparatus, thus greatly en- Figure l is a sectional elevation of a refrigerhancing its economy and yet the bloweror air 9 ator; driving apparatus is simply and eificiently driven. Figure 2 is a front elevation on a smaller scale The compartments l5 and I6 are respectively with a diagrammatic showing of circuits; closed by separate doors 32; and 33 which swing Figure 3 is a sectional view of a switch or out respectively to the left andlto the right, as indi: 25 out and its controlling parts. cated in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The lower com- Similar reference characters refer to similar partment is also providedwith a door 34 which parts throughout the several figures of the drawin this instance may be swung downwardly to ing. open. All of these doors are formed with suit- There is shown at I ii the casing of a refrigerable heat insulating filling and provided with 30 ator of the type adapted for domestic use, this suitable latches. .4 a

casing being provided with heat insulation in its It will be seen with the apparatus as thus. far

walls as shown at H. described that with the doors closed and the The interior of this casing is provided with a motor 3 in operation the air within the refriger- 35 lower compartment l2 roofed by a dividing shelf ator is vigorously circulated being drawn into the 35 i3 which is provided with a port or air passage l4. blower and discharged upwardly into the space The upper portion of the refrigerator is subdil6, thence passing to the left through the port I8, vided into the spaces [5 and I6 by an upright thence downwardly through the space l5 and the partition I! havingfan air port or passage l8 port II to the lower compartment. At this point,

adjacent its upper end. Suitable vertically adthe passage transversely through this'compart- 40 justable shelves l9 are mounted as shown and ment being substantially blocked by the basket are of open work to permit the air to pass readily 23 and its contents, the air is compelled to travel therethrough, these shelves serving to support through the ice within this basket and .thus the food or other material to be kept cool as brought intimately into contact with the large indicated at 20. exposed surface of the ice. The funnel member 45 The casing or housing i0 is mounted uponsuit- 21, which extends substantially to the bottom of able legs 2i and provided through its lower wall the basket as shown, so as to draw air through with a drain passage 22. the ice when the basket is only partially filled.

In the space or compartment l2 there is prosucks the air into theblower and .the above cycle vided a basket 23, formed of metal screening or is repeated. There is preferably provided an 50 like material, which is preferably rigid and proimperforate partition 21a w ch extends from the vided at its upper edges with flanges 24 respec top to a short distance below the bottom vof the tively resting within the guides 25 which are compartment l2 and forces all air traveling to mounted upon the lower portion of the wall l3. the blower 28 to pass under its lower edge ,as

Thus this basket 23 may be slidably moved outindicated by the arrow. By this partition the 55 indicating an excess over the temperature desired,

to be maintained within the refrigerator. This is, of course, adjustable in the well-known way and the connection of these conductors 31 and 38 will lead current to the motor 3|, thus connecting the latter across the mains indicated at 39 whenever suitable switches hereinafter described are in closed condition. One of hand switch 40 which is assumed to whenever the apparatus is in use.

be closed The doors 32,13 and 34 are provided respec-;

tively with switches ll, 12 and 43, as diagrammatically indicated in Fig.2 of the drawing, -and the construction of asuitable form of these switches is shown in detail in Fig. 3. The door, shown in this figureas door 33, is hinged so as to open into the position as shown in dotted lines in this figure and to close 'as shown in full lines. The edge portion'of the door adjacent the hinge contacts a able guide in therefrigerator wall and bear- 4 ing a conducting bridge contact 46 which in its closed position connects the relatively-insulated contacts 41 and 48. Thus when all of the doors are closed and the thermostat 36 expandedpthe switches H, 42 and as well as switch so, will be closed and the motor li in operation with the vigorous circulation of the air within the, refrigerator as hereinbefore described, it being 'un-- derstood that the partitions i1 and it extend from front to backof the refrigerator. If the motor 3| is not in action, it is important to note that even the opening of one of the upper doors would not cause aserious loss of cooled air for the ice with the coldest air is positioned in the lowermost compartmentand it is unnecessary to open this except when the supply is to be replenished. This arrangement of the parts conduces to economy in action. If} however, the blower 28 were in operation, the rapid circulation of the air would within a short time cause a serious loss if one of the doors were opened. Accordingly the plunger 44 is provided wth a spring I! which tends to urge it in a direction to break the connection between the contacts 41 and 48 or the correspondingcontacts in the remaining switches. Thus as one of the doors is opened the circuit of the motor is instantaneously and automatically broken and the blower stopped. This feature, together with positioning of the refrigerating agent in a usually closed compartment at the bottom prevents any substantial loss of refrigerated air. l a

The use of the basket for the flake ice or the like not only holds it in position for quick action upon the air but permits it readily to be placed in position by being dumped therein from any suitable container and holds it in position even if the door to the cooling chamber be opened.

' It will thus be seen that there is provided apparatus in which the objects of the'invention are achieved and which is well suited to the conditions of hard practical use.

As various changes could be made in the above apparatus and as the invention herein described could well be embodied in apparatus which would vidlng opening substantially these switches is the plunger 44 sliding in a suita casing provided be superficially diflerent, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted in an illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In refrigerating apparatus, in combination, a. casing provided with a horizontal partition having two openings therein, said partition disaid easing into an upper and a' lower compartment, a partition dividing said upper compartment of the casing with said openings in opposite sides thereof and provided with an adjacent the top of said casing, means within said lower compartment comprising a basket-like member adapted to support finely divided ice, means adapted to draw air through said basket member and through said ice and circulate'the same within said casing, said means including a partition extending downwardly from said horizontal partition whereby the lower edge of said lower compartment partition is spaced from the bottom of said casing, means mounting said basket member adapted to permit it to slide outwardly beyond the boundaries of said casing and expose its upper sidefor refilling, and a motor adapted to operate said second-mentioned means, said motor being mounted in such manner with respect to said casing that heat generated by the operations of the motor is not dissipated in the path of said air.

2. In refrigerating apparatus, in combination, a casing provided with a horizontal partition having two openings therein whereby said casing is divided into an'upper and a lower compartment, a vertical partition secured to said horizon-' tal partition. and extending downwardly therefrom whereby the lower edge of said vertical partition is spaced from the bottom of said casing,

having its outlet connected to the other of said horizontal partition openings whereby 'air is drawn from said upper compartment through said first-mentioned opening and through said finely divided ice and is delivered into said upper compartment by said last-mentioned horizontal partition opening, and means for driving said fan element, said means being mounted in such manner with respect to said.casing that heat generated by the operation thereof is dissipated exteriorly of said compartments.

3. In refrigerating apparatus, in combination, with a horizontal partition having two openings therein whereby said casing is divided into an upper and a lower compartment, a vertical partition secured to said horizontal partition and extending downwardly therefrom whereby the lower edge of said vertical partition is spaced from the bottom of said casing, a basket member adapted to hold finely divided ice slidably mounted in said lower compartment between said vertical partition and one of the side walls of said casing, said basket member being disposed beneath one of the openings in said horizontal partition, a fan element in said lower compartment having its inlet connected to the opening formed by the lower edge of said vertical partition and said casing bottom'and having its outlet connectedto the other of said horizontal partition openings whereby air is drawii' from said u per compartment through said *flrst-mentioned opening and through said finely divided ice-and is delivered into said upper compartment by said last-mentioned horizontal partition opening, means for driving said fan element, said means being mounted in such manner with respect to said casing that heatgenerated by the operation thereof is dissipated exteriorly of said compartments, closure members for said compartments, and means adapted to halt the operation of said fan driving means upon said closures being opened. x

4. In refrigerating apparatus, in combination,

a casing, a horizontal partition dividing said casing into an upper and a lower chamberthereimsaid partition having openings therein at each lateral end thereof, a vertical partition between said openings dividing said upper chamber into a plurality of compartments, said vertical partition extending to the top of said casing and having an, opening therein adjacent the top thereof.

refrigerating means in said lower chamber, an

air circulator connected to said refrigerating means and adapted to force cooled air therefrom through one of the openings in said horizontal partition, whereby cooled air is forced into one of said uppe compartments, through the opening in the top of said vertical partition, through another of said upper compartments and through the other opening in said horizontal compartment into said lower chamber, a motor for driving said air circulator', said motor being mounted onthe outside of said casing, closure means for said upper compartments, and means associated with said casing and operative upon said closure "means being opened to halt the operation of said motor to prevent cool air being forced out of said compartments. GEORGE E. HULBE. 

